Explorer build

How players win with Explorer Community consensus

Summarised in our own words on 13 November 2026; check the patch date of each source against PC 1.2.

Weapons Explorer boosts most Computed from rules

Explorer: ordered by how much Explorer's modifiers raise each weapon's damage compared with a character without modifiers, then by damage per second; weapons Explorer doesn't boost fall back to raw DPS. Reference profile: Explorer's own stats plus 20 points bought in the weapon's main scaling stat, both multiplied by Explorer's modifiers; one weapon, its highest tier, no items, single target, every projectile hits. 89 of 95 equippable weapons scale with a stat Explorer can raise.

#	Weapon	Boost	DPS	Main stat	Hit	Cooldown
1	Flamethrower IV	×1	11.1+ burn 17×5	Elemental Damage	1	0.09 s
2	Boomerang IVStarting option	×0.64	36.8	Melee Damage	21	0.60 s
3	Pan Flute IVStarting option	×0.64	34.6	Luck	7 ×5	1.03 s
4	Jousting Lance IVStarting option	×0.65	30.2	Melee Damage	39	1.33 s
5	Hand IVStarting option	×0.64	9.9	Melee Damage	7	0.71 s
6	Combat Shotgun IV	×0.59	208.2	Ranged Damage	19 ×8	0.75 s
7	Machine Gun IV	×0.59	148.2	Ranged Damage	13	0.09 s
8	Minigun IV	×0.60	137.3	Ranged Damage	12	0.09 s
9	Obliterator IV	×0.60	133.9	Ranged Damage	420	3.23 s
10	Flaming Brass Knuckles IV	×0.60	102.2+ burn 4×18	Melee Damage	60	0.59 s

Starting weapons by the same measure

• Boomerang#2 of 89, 36.8 DPS at tier IV
• Pan Flute#3 of 89, 34.6 DPS at tier IV
• Jousting Lance#4 of 89, 30.2 DPS at tier IV
• Hand#5 of 89, 9.9 DPS at tier IV
• Hatchet#25 of 89, 63.8 DPS at tier IV
• Taser#29 of 89, 60.7 DPS at tier IV
• Blowgun#32 of 89, 56.8 DPS at tier IV
• Meat Tenderizer#36 of 89, 51.5 DPS at tier IV
• Shovel#41 of 89, 46.6 DPS at tier IV
• Thief Dagger#42 of 89, 46 DPS at tier IV
• Whip#45 of 89, 42.6 DPS at tier IV
• Awl#49 of 89, 41.4 DPS at tier IV
• Carbon Bow#54 of 89, 38.2 DPS at tier IV
• Cacti Club#57 of 89, 36.4 DPS at tier IV
• Screwdriver#58 of 89, 36.3 DPS at tier IV
• Chopper#62 of 89, 33.7 DPS at tier IV
• Plank#66 of 89, 30.5 DPS at tier IV
• Sticky Grenade#71 of 89, 25.2 DPS at tier IV
• Ghost Axe#72 of 89, 24.6 DPS at tier IV
• Wand#73 of 89, 24.5 DPS at tier IV
• Spoon#75 of 89, 24.4 DPS at tier IV
• Crossbow#76 of 89, 23.4 DPS at tier IV
• Hiking Pole#78 of 89, 20.8 DPS at tier IV
• Shredder#79 of 89, 20.6 DPS at tier IV
• Crowbar#83 of 89, 18.8 DPS at tier IV
• Wrench#84 of 89, 18 DPS at tier IV
• Stick#85 of 89, 17.7 DPS at tier IV
• Torch#86 of 89, 16.3 DPS at tier IV
• Molotov Cocktail#89 of 89, 11.9 DPS at tier IV

Legendary-only weapons

These exist only at tier IV, cost a Legendary shop slot and carry the Legendary set penalty of −20 Max HP per weapon of the class. At the same profile: Chain Gun 427.6 DPS; Gatling Laser 295.9 DPS; Excalibur 250.9 DPS; Scythe 145.9 DPS.

Burning weapons

Burn damage is not in the DPS column. Per application at the same profile (damage per tick × ticks; the strongest burn on an enemy is kept unless you own Pyromaniac): Wand 17×12, Particle Accelerator 18×10, Molotov Cocktail 15×7, Flamethrower 17×5, Fireball 17×5, Flaming Brass Knuckles 4×18.

Items for the stats this build buys Computed from item data

Ranked by points per base material after Explorer's multiplier; prices rise each wave. Downsides are listed because they hit other stats.

Items that turn Explorer's stats into more

• Frozen HeartWeapon and pet damage additionally scales with 10% Elemental Damage
• Pearl+1% Damage for every permanent 10 Luck you have
• Power Generator+1% Damage for every permanent 1% Speed you have
• Strange Book+1 Engineering for every permanent 1 Elemental Damage you have

Items that use Explorer's effects

What the modifiers change Computed from rules

Explorer has no stat multiplier, so the weapon decides the stat. At the reference profile the highest single-target damage comes from Flamethrower IV (11.1 DPS).

Explorer has no stat multiplier, conversion or class bonus. Pick weapons by the stat they scale with and buy that stat.

Assumptions and method

• Damage per hit = round(trunc(base + Σ stat × scaling) × (1 + %Damage/100 + class %Damage/100)); crits average in as chance × round(hit × multiplier). Formulas are datamined from the game code; weapon numbers come from the game-file tables.
• Cooldown is the tooltip value, which includes the attack animation. Reload weapons average the long cooldown over its shot count. Attack Speed divides the tooltip, an approximation: the game divides only the cooldown frames.
• Not modelled: pierce, bounce, explosion splash, knockback, on-hit and kill-count effects, structures, and how often the weapon actually reaches enemies. Multi-projectile weapons assume every projectile hits the same target, which favours shotguns.
• Version: Brotato PC 1.2 with the 12 November 2026 patch. Reviewed 12 November 2026.